


Best wishes, Connie And Steven, Saviors of the World

by Jess4400



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Connieswap, F/M, Head cannon that Connie has sensory processing issues, Head canon that Mary is obsessed with the Harvest Moon series equivalent, It's a grand ole time, Steven and Connie play Age of Empires and watch Dogcopter 3 in the car, Steven if you could stop with the puns, that would be great thanks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-27
Updated: 2017-06-27
Packaged: 2018-11-19 13:54:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11314782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jess4400/pseuds/Jess4400
Summary: The Gems can't take Connie to a mission in a volcano. Bummer, huh? Now she's getting dragged into going on a road trip with Steven, who is visiting his uncle Andy with his family in Mountain Town. Sounds fun, right? That's what she thought, too, until they get stranded at a Waffle House at 1 a.m. with a corrupted gem on their tail.Written for the Connieswap prompt, "Travel." As always, this is not an official story.





	Best wishes, Connie And Steven, Saviors of the World

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Connie Swap Omake Collection](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10673391) by [BinaryGeek](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BinaryGeek/pseuds/BinaryGeek), [br42](https://archiveofourown.org/users/br42/pseuds/br42), [BurdenKing](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BurdenKing/pseuds/BurdenKing), [citrusella](https://archiveofourown.org/users/citrusella/pseuds/citrusella), [CoreyWW](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CoreyWW/pseuds/CoreyWW), [Cyberwraith9](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cyberwraith9/pseuds/Cyberwraith9), [Japkot](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Japkot/pseuds/Japkot), [leo60228](https://archiveofourown.org/users/leo60228/pseuds/leo60228), [MjStudioArts](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MjStudioArts/pseuds/MjStudioArts), [MK_Foodshops](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MK_Foodshops/pseuds/MK_Foodshops), [SilverScribe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverScribe/pseuds/SilverScribe), [Wierdkid20](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wierdkid20/pseuds/Wierdkid20). 



“JUST GOTTA GET OUT. JUST GOTTA GET RIGHT OUT OF HEYAH.”

 _Ugh, I wish,_ Connie thought, clamping her hands over her ears. She was currently in the car with Mary, Greg, and Steven, who were all rocking out to invisible instruments and singing at the top of their lungs. How did she get roped into this again? Oh yeah.

 

* * *

 

It was a bright sunny day, made even brighter by Connie’s help in battling a corrupted Calcite. She made the final blow, slashing the monster in its chest with her sword. She had gotten better in the last few months; She was summoning her forcefields consistently and her sword much more often. It was small, of course, but nothing she couldn’t use to her advantage in a fight. The Gems reassured her that with more training, she’d be able to make it bigger and more powerful. That thought kept her going.

“Woah! Great job, Con-Con! Lapis yelled. She dashed over to Connie and bubbled the Gem before it could reform. Jasper and Peridot came running out of the house once they heard the commotion.

“What in Yellow Diamond’s name is going on out here?!” Peridot screeched. Jasper was right behind her, prepared for a fight. She had her hands balled into fists, looking around for a threat, but relaxed when she saw Lapis holding the bubbled gem.

“We were looking for seashells and a corrupted Calcite snuck up on us, ma’am.” Connie explained. “I poofed it and Lapis bubbled it.”

“You poofed that thing all by yourself? Lapis, how could you have let this happen? Were you even supervising Connie at all?” Peridot yelled.

“Yeah, but I was all the way on the other side of the beach! She took care of it way before I flew over there. Plus, she’s fine, right? I think this proves she's ready to go on more missions. Why do you think, OJ?” Connie beamed, but her excitement was cut down by the twitchy frown on Jasper’s face.

Jasper sighed, throwing her a sympathetic glance. “Connie _has_ been improving, but the missions we’ve been going on lately are still not appropriate for her. Our last one was in Antarctica. Our next is in a volcano. Her body can’t handle those extreme temperatures.”

“Speaking of which,” Peridot added. “What are we going to do with Connie for that mission? We’ll be gone for over a week. We can’t leave her alone for that long. Heavens knows how well that worked out last time you two pulled a disappearing act.” She pointed a finger at them.

Jasper and Lapis grimaced, but pondered Peridot’s words.

“How about that Universe child? She could stay with his family.” Jasper piped.

“Pinkie Pie? Yeah, that could work. Peri, go call his parents and see if they can watch her while we’re gone.”

“Wait!” Connie objected. “Don’t you think that’s kind of rude?”

Peridot shrugged. “Not if we give them the appropriate monetary payment. That’s how that Earth business works, right? Sitting on babies?”

“Yeah, sure, but Steven said they were leaving tomorrow to go on a trip to visit his uncle Andy in Mountain Town!”

“Then you will go with him,” Jasper deadpanned. “This mission is too dangerous for you. We wish you could come, but we wouldn’t be able to live with ourselves if you got hurt due to our negligence.” Connie pouted. She wanted to argue, but she also didn’t want to risk getting herself grounded.

“Unless…” Jasper stroked her chin, stealing a glance at Connie, “You’d rather stay with that Onion child? That could work too.” Connie couldn’t tell if she was being serious or not, so she begged just in case.

“Nope! Nope, okay, with Steven it is! Please don’t make me go there!”

“Good,” Jasper smirked. “Peridot will call his parents and getting everything sorted. I advise you start packing.”

Connie sighed, knowing she was defeated. “Yes, ma’am.”

 

* * *

 

That’s how. 

 

“Connie? Connie?” Steven waved his hand in front of her face and she jumped.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. You okay?” He asked.

“Yeah, it’s just…” Greg cut her off with a drum solo and she winced, pointing to her ear, “A little loud.” Steven ‘oohed’ and unbuckled his seatbelt. He stood up quickly and tapped his mom on the shoulder.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Connie asked, panicked.

“MOOOOM” He yelled, leaning on the passenger seat. “CONNIE SAYS IT’S TOO LOUD. TURN IT DOWN PLEASE.”

“Steven!” Connie hissed. Mary obliged, turning the radio down several notches so that it was barely audible from Connie’s place in the back seat. 

“Sorry Connie,” she said, turning around to face her. “We get a little carried away sometimes. Just holler if we get too loud again. Steven does all the time.” She laughed a little smiled, before turning around and starting up her Grintendo game called “Harvest Sun.”

“Steven, you’ve gotta stop doing that!” Connie scolded quietly. 

“Doing what?”

“Saying ‘Connie says’ this and ‘Connie says’ that! It makes me look rude.”

“Why? You said it was too loud, so they turned the radio down. They love you, yaknow. You’re like their second kid. They’ll do anything for you, granted it’s not an crazy request.” Connie blushed and Steven grinned cheekily.

“Plus, hearing aids are expensive. They don’t want to have to pay for another pair for you if they accidentally blow your eardrums out.”Connie shoved him and he laughed.

“Oh _whatever_ ,” she snickered. Her eyes drifted to he window, where cornfield after cornfield passed them by. They had only been on the road for about two hours, the first hour being filled up casual small talk, and the second, jamming out to Universe Karaoke. They were going on their third hour now. She had eight more hours of this. Ugh.

“So… Now what do you want to do?” Steven asked, looking just as bored as she was.

“Let’s see…Weight of Empires?”

“You’re on.”

 

* * *

 

“Steven! It doesn’t work that way, you cheater!”

“Sure it does! I’m a healer!”

“You can’t just keep reviving your teammates every time they die!”

“Why not?”

“Because! That’s too OP. I know you used cheat codes. Give me the potions.” She demanded. Steven dropped some of his potions, but Connie knew he was still hiding a few due to the sly smile on his face.

“All of them,” she pressed.

“That was all, I swear!” He giggled. 

“You are such a bad liar! Cough ‘em up, you delinquent.”

“Fine.” He handed over the rest. “Too bad you’re over here stealing my potions and not watching your fort,” he sighed dramatically. Connie quirked an eyebrow. “Why’s that?”

“YOU LOSE!” The screen shouted at her in bold, red letters.

“That’s why.”

“What the— Steven, what did you do?!” She shrieked.

“Never let your guard down, young grasshopper.”

“How did you even…?”

“My soldiers snuck up on your base and bombed it while you were over here scolding me.” Steven grinned. “This is the first time I’ve ever won against you! I’m so happy.”

“I can’t believe you!” She crossed her arms. “This was an unfair match.”

“What was that you said the other day when you cheated? Something about “All’s fair in war?” He leaned back in his seat, smug, his hands behind his head. “Sounds like good advice to me.”

“Ugh,” she groaned, hating that her own words were being used against her. “I’ll win next time.”

“You’re probably right.”

“And the next time after that.”

“Then too.” Steven shrugged. “I got lucky this time.” He paused and looked outside. The sun was setting, a mix of pink and orange illuminated the sky ahead of them. “What should we do now?”

Connie frowned. “I dunno, what do you what to do?”

“Whatever you want to do is fine with me.”

“Didn’t you have a movie you wanted to watch?” Connie asked.

“Oh yeah!” Steven dug through his bag for his laptop. “Dogcopter 3! It’s supposed to be really good. It’s pretty straightforward; I don’t think you need to see the other ones in order to understand this one. You wanna watch it with me?”

“Sure!”

Steven loaded the movie on his laptop. The title screen looked intriguing, that much Connie knew, but she wasn’t sure what the actually story was going to be about. She tried to ask, but Steven shushed her with a hiss of “No spoilers!” He handed her various snacks and a pair of ear buds.

“You can have the headphones,” he said. “I forgot to bring a headphone splitter. I’ll just read the captions.”

“We can share!” Connie blurted. 

“You sure? That might be uncomfortable. The ear buds aren't very long.”

“That’s okay,” Connie said, a tad flushed. “Just scoot over here.” 

“Ehhh. It’s okay.” He said bashfully. “I usually have to have the volume turned all the way up anyway. I’ll just read.”

“Steven, if you don’t get your butt over here and share these headphones with me I swear to the stars I’m gonna—”

“Fine! I’m coming.”

Steven scooted over and Connie plugged in the headphones. She handed one to Steven and took one for herself. Steven draped the earbud behind his ear where the mic was on his hearing aid. He cranked up the volume on the computer and Connie winced.

“Told you!” He laughed. He took his earbud off an handed it to Connie, who was now frowning. She crossed her arms and refused to take them. Steven tilted his head.

“Please, just take the headphones. I’m probably gonna fall asleep halfway though. I can read the captions. That’s what I always do for movies anyway. Also, I hear there are a bunch of explosions in this movie. Spare me from the tinnitus and take them.”

“Fine,” she grumbled. “But you’re staying over here. I need a pillow.” Steven laughed.

“Yes ma’am.”

 

* * *

 

The movie finally ended, so Connie took of the headphones and looked around, reacquainting herself with reality. She was the only one in the car besides Greg who wasn’t sleeping. Steven had knocked out about halfway through, just like he had predicted, and was leaning on Connie’s shoulder. _So much for him being my pillow,_ she thought sarcastically. Moving slowly as not to wake him, she closed his computer and put it back in his bag. She pulled out her phone and checked to see if any of her favorite Whatpad authors had updated. A few had, so she snuggled up next to Steven and read the new chapters. Only four more hours left to go. 

 

* * *

 

 

She must have fallen asleep too, for the next thing she knew, she was being woken up by Mary.

“Kids.. Kids… Wake up please.” Connie blinked and stretched, causing a still-sleeping Steven to slide off her shoulder and onto her bony knee. That definitely woke him up.

“What the!” He yelped, quickly scooting away, rubbing his temple. “What’s going on?”

“We’re having a bit of car trouble, so your dad is calling Quadruple A right now. While they work on the car, I figured we could go somewhere safer. I don’t like being out here stranded on the road at night. It’s creepy.” She said with a shiver.

“Where do you have in mind?” Connie asked. Steven had already rolled back over and fallen asleep again, very much done with the conversation.

“Well, there’s a Burger Queen, a Green Castle, and a Waffle House nearby, but it looks like the Waffle House is the only place that’s open.” She tapped on the window in the direction of a bright neon yellow sign. “Should take us only a few minutes to walk over there.”

Connie nodded and gathered her necessities in her backpack. She was definitely bringing her blanket, in case she wanted to go back to sleep, and her phone, for emergencies. Also, a few snacks, just in case, and her dad's trusty flashlight.

“Steven,” she shook his shoulder. “Steven, wake up, we’re about to leave.” His hand snaked out from under his blanket and he slowly tapped his index finger against his thumb twice, not even bothering to open his eyes.

“Yes,” she argued. “Come on, your mom’s waiting.” Steven grumbled and sat up. He wiped his eyes and grabbed his backpack. He tumbled out of the car behind Connie, blanket and all, and stood next to his mom, who was leaning up against the car. 

“Where’re we going?” He slurred, resting his head on his mother’s arm. Mary laughed and ruffled his hair. 

“Waffle House.”

“Why?”

“We need somewhere to sit while the Quadruple A guys fix the Dondai.”

“Why?” 

“Because it’s broken, sweetheart.”

“Why?” Mary looked at Connie in exasperation and snickered.

“I don’t know, honey. Why don’t you go ask your father?”

“Nah. Too tired.”

“Well come on, then!” Greg added, too cheerily (in Connie’s opinion) for someone whose car just broke down on the side of the road. “The sooner we get to the Waffle House, the sooner you can go back to sleep!”

Steven, now slightly motivated, took a spot between Connie and his mom. They started walking next to the main road, using the flickering street lamps as beacons to guide them. Connie looked around in wonder, admiring the stars up above and the eeriness of the abandoned buildings around them. Mary was right. This city _was_ creepy. Something gave her a very bad vibe here. Thankfully, they reached the establishment all in one piece. They waited at the front for the hostess to seat them.

The fluorescent lights were blinding, Connie thought, squinting her eyes. She could barely see what was in front of her. Apparently Steven didn’t like them either, because he was pocketing his hearing aids. “Too loud,” he said as an explanation.

Connie nodded. “Too bright.” 

Steven rustled through his cheeseburger backpack and pulled out a pair of sunglasses. He handed them to Connie and zipped up the bag.

“Thanks.” Connie put on the sunglasses and relaxed once her surroundings were dimmer. 

“No problem,” Steven replied. The hostess finally noticed them from across the room and sauntered over.

“Hi! How many?”

“Just four,” Greg responded.

“Alright, follow me, I’ll get you seated over here.” She placed their menus on the table and a waitress started taking drink orders. Ew, Connie thought. They were sticky.

“For you, miss?” She started with Mary. “A coffee, please.”

“And you?” She looked at Greg. 

“I’ll have a coffee too please,” he said. The lady then looked to Steven, who was staring off into space, probably still half asleep. Connie kicked his foot and pointed to the lady.

“Umm,” he said, quickly catching on. “Hot chocolate.”

“For you?” She asked Connie.

“Same thing as him.” The waitress nodded and scribbled on her notepad. 

“Alright, two hot chocolates and two coffees. I’ll be right back with those.”

“Thank you,” Greg called. He diverted his attention to his menu.

“So, what are you guys going to eat?” He asked Mary and Connie and then signed  _“You eat what?”_ to Steven.

“Mmmmm…. Waffles,” Steven said sleepily. Connie wasn't really hungry, but she guessed this was going to be their breakfast, based on how much time they were losing by this detour. She’d better eat. “Pancakes sound good to me,” she said. Mary nodded. 

“I think I’ll do pancakes too,” she said.

Greg hummed, scanning his options.

“I think I’m gonna go with the eggs, bacon, and hash brown combo. I needs my protein.” Connie giggled. 

Suddenly, the tables started shaking. A few plates from the other tables crashed on the floor. Then, without warning, the lights cut out, leaving the few patrons in the restaurant to panic and scream. 

“What’s going on?!” Greg yelled.

“I don’t know!” Connie yelled back. “We gotta get out of here!”

“Guys, what’s going on?” Steven asked. Connie heard the tell-tale sound of a corrupted gem creeping up behind him. Connie grabbed his hand and pulled hard, urging him to get up.

“Ey, easy, easy, easy,” he winced. “I’m basically Hellen Keller right now, cut me some slack.” Connie resisted the urge to bop him on the head for making jokes at a time like this and dragged him towards where she remembered the front door being. Once outside and under the glow of the street lamp, she dug around in her backpack for her flashlight. Steven put in his hearing aids back in and looked at her for directions.

“Okay. We need to poof that monster. Any ideas?”

“Your sword?”

“Not big enough to poof _that_ thing.”

“Umm. We could use the forks as throwing stars?”

“No,” Connie deadpanned. That did give her an idea though..

“I have an idea! Help me find a broom. I saw this in a movie once.” He nodded.

Connie and Steven went back in, flashlight in hand, to scour the premises. They hoped Greg and Mary had gotten out alright, for they didn’t have enough time to go back and look for them. She felt bad, but poofing this monster was the first priority.

Focus, Connie. She looked around the kitchen. Broom. Broom. Get out me car. Aha! Broom!

“Steven! Catch!” She threw the broom at him and he barely caught it.

“O-Okay!” He said. Connie pointed at the monster, who was now rapidly approaching. 

“I’m going to force him into the corner. You beat him up with the broom!”

“What?!” Steven shrieked. 

“Just do it!” She summoned three forcefields and used them as a bulldozer. Once in the corner, the monster reared back, ready to strike. 

“Now, Steven!” She shouted.

Steven whacked the monster several times, yelling “AHHHHHHHHHH,” as he swung the broom back and forth. The gem’s form wavered, but ultimately stayed together. It got even angrier and tried to burst through the fields.

“It’s not working!” He cried. Connie snatched the broom, let down her defenses, and charged the monster. The extra force behind the running start helped penetrate it’s light form and it vanished in a cloud of smoke. The restaurant lights turned back on.

“Yay!!! You did it!” Steven glomped her in a hug.  “That was so cool!” He was going to ramble more, but got distracted when he saw Mary and Greg climbing out from underneath a table where they were hiding.

“Mom! Dad!”

“What just happened?” Mary cried. “We heard shouting and growling and then there was something about finding a broom and now the lights are back on?”

Connie shrugged, her heart rate now returning to normal.

“That’s pretty much what happened. Now Steven, help me find something to put this gem in so that it can’t reform.”

The kids searched through the kitchen once more, eventually settling on a crusty tupperware container. They sealed the gem inside and Steven stuck the container in the deep freezer.

“Steven! We can’t just leave it there.”

“I don’t know, I think it needs time to chill out.” She pointedly ignored the pun.

“Steven, what if someone opens that container and the gem reforms?”

“That doesn’t sound very cool.”

“Steven, I’m being serious.”

“This is the icest thing we can do for it for now.”

“Steven.”

“Look, we can write a note,” he compromised. “I’m sorry if that’s like, your cousin or something, but I am not taking that thing with us the rest of the way. I wish to live.”

Connie giggled and agreed. Steven found a napkin and she handed him a pen.

“Dear whom it may concern…” He wrote,

“Do not open this container unless you want to die.

Best wishes,

Connie and Steven, saviors of the world.”

**Author's Note:**

> \- They were listening to 'Bohemian Rhapsody' by Queen because that's a song everyone can agree on.
> 
> \- Steven initially rejected listening to Dogcopter with Connie because he was scared to sit too close to her. Shy boy.
> 
> \- Mountain town was probably going too be in the Smokey Mountains, around Gatlinburg, Tennessee. From a random city in Delmarva on the coast to Gatlinburg is around 11 hours, so that's about the time frame I was using.
> 
> \- Idk why I made au versions of all the restaurants except for Waffle House ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> \- This was low-key inspired by that tumblr post about the haunted Waffle Houses, ngl.


End file.
